Toyota, Nissan see Dec. output fall by largest margin for the month+

TOKYO, Jan. 28 Kyodo - Major Japanese automakers slashed global production sharply in December, with Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. cutting their output by the largest margin for that month due to rapidly falling sales amid the global economic slump, according to company data released Wednesday.

Toyota's global output plummeted 24.9 percent from a year earlier to 479,027
units, marking its largest drop for the month of December since comparable data
became available in 1987.
Nissan reduced its output by 35.9 percent to 176,174 units, the biggest drop
for the month since 1986, when comparable figures first became available.
Japanese automakers are slashing output and jobs, as well as downgrading
earnings forecasts as the worsening economy and the credit crunch have dampened
demand for new automobiles across the globe.
In December, Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s production decreased 38.5 percent to
72,916 units, marking the largest drop since January 2003 when the automaker
spun off its truck and bus operations.
Honda Motor Co.'s output fell 7.5 percent to 277,294 units and Mazda Motor
Corp.'s production plunged 41.3 percent to 68,111 units.
For 2008, the five major Japanese automakers showed mixed global output
outcomes, with their year-on-year rates of increase or decline being relatively
modest single-digit figures.
Toyota, which last year ended General Motors Corp.'s 77-year run as the world's
largest automaker by sales, saw its first drop in global output in seven years
in 2008. Its production fell 3.8 percent from a year earlier to 8,210,818
vehicles.
Toyota's global sales fell 5.1 percent to 7,996,102 units in 2008 -- the first
drop in 10 years.
Honda, Japan's second-largest automaker, built a record-high 3,957,381 vehicles
in 2008, up 1.2 percent, marking a 12th consecutive year of increase. Its
global car sales for the year totaled a record-high 3.78 million units, thanks
to robust sales during the first half in emerging countries like China.
Nissan, the nation's third-largest automaker, turned out 3,394,830 units in
2008, down 1.1 percent. Its annual global sales were up 0.9 percent to
3,708,074 units.
Mazda's annual output grew 4.6 percent to 1,349,274 units. Its sales rose 1.2
percent to 1,351,494 units.
Mitsubishi recorded the sharpest rate of decline in global output among the
five at 7.8 percent, producing 1,301,373 vehicles in 2008.
The automaker's global annual sales figure was not available. Mitsubishi only
released sales figures for its three main markets -- Japan, the United States
and Europe -- which showed it suffered declining sales in all of the markets.
==Kyodo
2009-01-2